Where the locals go: Stripers Waterside Restaurant

Thursday

Aug 28, 2014 at 2:00 AM

KENNEBUNKPORT — In my first ever "Where the locals go" column of this summer I explained at length that through years of working in the Kennebunkport area I am asked constantly "Where do the locals go?" and I still hold to my answer that I gave in my first column: We go home.

Sarah O'Connell

KENNEBUNKPORT — In my first ever "Where the locals go" column of this summer I explained at length that through years of working in the Kennebunkport area I am asked constantly "Where do the locals go?" and I still hold to my answer that I gave in my first column: We go home.

This town is the size of a pea and if the internet can make the entire world flat, then our pea-sized town is so flat that it is sometimes painful.

Because of this, in my columns I claim "this is where the locals go" and there are many people who protest "no! tourists go there!" Yes, they do, but locals also go there because if we didn't eat at places that tourists do, we would never eat out.

With this in mind, I offer my favorite restaurant at the moment where everyone should go: Stripers Waterside Restaurant. I have a been a patron of Stripers Waterside Restaurant for a while now and I am never disappointed. Stripers is located just about a mile away from the business of Dock Square in the Breakwater Inn. It offers a quiet atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle of the the square without being dull.

The key to this perfect balance is two parts food one part view. Chef Gary Caron serves up fresh, locally-inspired food with flair, taking staple ingredients from the area and making them his own (something hard to do in a seafood restaurant in a town dedicated to seafood).

As a person who has lived in Kennebunk for 11 years, I know my lobster, and when I think lobster the first thing I think of is the lobster taco at Stripers. I'm sure many purists will object to this, but the lobster taco at Stripers is my favorite way and, in my opinion the most delicious way, to eat lobster. Let me give you a quick instant replay: a warm corn tortilla, soft yet sturdy, crunchy dressed cabbage, sweet and spicy (and all around perfect) salsa, precious pickled onions and fresh, tender lobster meat. This is the taco to end all tacos.

And though I feel like I am now a lobster taco fangirl, I must also tell you (don't faint from excitement), the rest of the menu is amazing too. From their many small plates to their larger dishes like their roasted carrot ravioli, the only thing the can rival the marvelousness of Stripers' menu is the view. Named after its geographic location, the Breakwater Inn is located right at the end of the Kennebunk River where the river meets the ocean, making the view from restaurant twice as amazing.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Stripers is open seven days a week until Columbus Day and then is open for a limited number of days during the week before it closes for the season in December, until the spring.

WHERE IT IS: 133 Ocean Ave., Kennebunkport

WHEN TO GO: Stripers opens at noon every day except Sunday, when it opens at 11 a.m. for brunch.

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